Appliances generally include a control panel having a plurality of buttons, keys, or other input devices. Utilizing the control panel, an appliance user can input control commands to the appliance and operate the appliance. Certain control panels include capacitive touch sensors that utilize a user's body capacitance to operate. In particular, capacitive touch sensors can detect a change in capacitance when the user touches the control panel.
Capacitive touch sensors have various benefits. For example, capacitive touch sensors can assist with providing a clean appearance for an associated appliance. In particular, capacitive touch sensors are frequently positioned behind a dielectric panel. A user touches an outer surface of the dielectric panel opposite the capacitive touch sensors to actuate the capacitive touch sensors. The smooth outer surface can have a pleasant cosmetic appearance, e.g., particularly compared to tactile buttons, knobs, etc.
Marking or illuminating the dielectric panel to inform the user where a particular capacitive touch sensor is located behind the dielectric panel is challenging. For example, certain appliances include two printed circuit boards (PCB) with the capacitive touch sensors mounted on one of the PCBs and light emitting diodes mounted on the other of the PCBs. The PCB with the capacitive touch sensors is positioned at the dielectric panel, and the light emitting diodes on the other PCB are aligned with holes on the PCB with the capacitive touch sensors to allow light to pass through to the dielectric panel. Each separate PCB increases the cost and complexity of the associated appliance.
Accordingly, a control panel for an appliance that includes capacitive touch sensors and features for backlighting touch point information for the capacitive touch sensors would be useful.